A tape drive that pulls a magnetic tape out of a tape cartridge that houses a single tape reel on which the magnetic tape, which is a tape-shaped recording medium, is wound, and records and reproduces information to and from the magnetic tape is known. The tape drive of this type is mainly used to back up a large amount of data with which for example a computer server and so forth deal.
Many types of tape cartridges are known. In one of these tape cartridges, a leader block connected to one end of a magnetic tape is housed in a cartridge case. When the tape cartridge, which has a leader block, is loaded to a tape drive device, the leader block is chucked by a chucking mechanism, pulled out of the tape cartridge by a conveying mechanism, and conveyed to a take-up reel of the tape drive device. While the magnetic tape pulled out of the tape cartridge is being wound up on a take-up reel of the tape drive device, information is recorded or reproduced to or from the magnetic tape by a magnetic head of the tape drive device.
The tape is connected to the leader block by clamping a block body with a pin or by clamping a block body and a cover as described in for example the following patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. HEI 6-290567).
FIG. 19A to FIG. 20B show the state of which a tape is connected to a leader block described in the patent document 1. In FIG. 19A and FIG. 19B, one end of a tape 103 is secured to a block body 101 of the leader block with a securing pin 102. FIGS. 20A and 20B show a state of which one end of the tape 103 is secured with a cover 106 hinged to the block body 105.
In any of these examples, the securing pin 102 or an edge portion 108 of the cover 106 is press-fit to a concave portion 104 or 107 formed on the block body 101 or 105 and one end of the tape 103 is clamped therebetween.
The block body, which composes the leader block, and a clamp member, which is the securing pin or the cover, may be normally made of an injection molded member of a synthetic rein material. Thus, in the foregoing patent document 1 of which the tape is secured by press-fitting the clamp member to the concave portion of the block body, the block body or clamp member creep-deforms under high temperature and/or high humidity environment, causing clamp force for the tape to weaken.
If the clamp force of the clamp member to the tape weakens, the leader block and the tape may be misaligned or the tape may be separated from the leader block. If the leader block and the tape guide are misaligned, while the tape is being traveled, the tape may be brought in contact with a flange of a tape guide disposed inside the tape drive device. As a result, the tape edge may be damaged and the reliability of the recording and reproducing operation for information will be deteriorated.
On the other hand, when the clamp member is press-fit to the block body, a technique of which the block body is secured to a dedicated tool and the clamp member is pressed to the block body is used. In this case, the pushing force acting on the clamp member damages it. As a result, a desired clamp force may not be obtained.
The present invention is made from the foregoing point of view. An issue of the present invention is to ensure the clamp force of the clamp member to the block body to secure the tape to the leader block.